INTRODUCTION
We were able to join a group of seven Hong Kong birding friends who had already started to make arrangements for this two-week trip; - they were Anthony LO, Doris CHU, Carrie MA, Eliza HUI, CW LAM , Lego HO and KY LAU.
Jemi and I had spent a few days in and around Xining (西宁) before, in the spring of 2005.
The remoteness of many of the birding sites in Qinghai (compared with, say, Sichuan (四川) and Yunnan (云南) means that having one’s own “wheels” is relatively important. Buses may be infrequent and overcrowded or there may be no public transport at all to some sites.
Local arrangements in Xining had been started with the consultation of Professor LI Lai-xing (李来兴教授) of Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, CAS (中国科学院西北高原生物研究所 ), who was unable to join us on the trip due to other commitments. Prof. LI gave us a briefing on the first evening in Xining about habitat and road conditions. We had the use of three vehicles and drivers. The lead driver, Mr PENG Xiang-dong (彭向东) had spent many years travelling remote corners of Qinghai, firstly with hunters and more lately with Prof. LI and others on wildlife survey work. Having three passengers in each car gave us all plenty of room, especially for the photographers with lots of gear.
For our return journey, rather than backtrack through Maduo (玛多) we took a swing out to the west towards Golmud (格尔木), with the aim of surveying a little-birded area of desert north of the Kunlun Shan (昆仑山). But it didn’t really work out, due to roadworks disturbance.
It was an action-packed trip, and hard work for the drivers. In a perfect world more time could be allowed over a route of this length, especially at the woodland sites in the south. After an eventful 12 days and 3,400kms covered the others went back to Hong Kong.
We revisited a couple of sites near Qinghai Lake and then spent a relatively dull few days at Huzhu Beishan (互助北山), before going on to see the cultural relics near Xian,Shanxi (陕西省 西安市).
